Did NJ have a primary state university before Rutgers became public in 1945?

Colleges & Universities Rutgers University
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<p>I was wondering this and thought there might be someone on this board who knew. Rutgers was a private institution until the end of WWII. At that time, in accepting any qualified applicants under the GI Bill, its enrollment exploded and it officially became “The State University of New Jersey.”</p>

<p>So what was the flagship university of the state’s higher ed system before 1945? The only other public research universities in NJ are NJIT and the Medical & Dental University.</p>

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<p>None. RU was the land grant school since 1864 so some areas were quasi-public like Cornell. There were old state colleges in Trenton, Montclair, etc that were teacher colleges. No real flagship.</p>